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A wise man once uttered four words that have changed my life. While talking to him about his life and the successes he had enjoyed, he offered me some marital advice that I try and live by. Notice I said “try.” He said, Brian, if you want to find happiness then you need to remember this phrase: “Happy wife, happy life.”eeBefore I go any further let me just say, I love you, honey. eeSaturday night was my 20-year class reunion from Campbell County High School.

When I was a young boy, one of my most treasured possessions was my stuffed frog.

I remember stalking around the Harrison County Fair – probably sometime around 1971 or 1972 – with my older sister, looking atone of those games where you toss a dart at a balloon and the tag behind it tells you what you won.

It was always my favorite game at the county fair. Boys seem to have an innate love of things that go “POP.”

I’ve always had a bit of a jaded attitude toward the world we live in.

My parents, both part of the baby boom era, were older than the parents of the other kids in school. Both grew up on farms where work was something you did if you wanted to keep food on the table and clothes on your back.

From the stories they’ve told all my life, neighbors were an integral part of day-to-day life. You shared what you had with your neighbor, though it may not be much, and you helped each other in whatever way you could.

Today we no longer express our feelings, thoughts, or do daily work at our place of employment on the written page.

We now tend to communicate in new ways. We have been swallowed up by technology. We e-mail, copy on disc, text abbreviated messages, or talk on the cell phones. In these paperless times, writing letters, lists, or paper work is nearly a lost art.

In some circumstances, however, things written down can be more effectively used. I found this to be especially true involving the delinquent tax list for 2009.

It seems to me that bad fathers, from King Lear to Angela’s Ashes, get more coverage in literature than good ones. From a lifetime of reading, I finally pulled up Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird as an example of a great literary dad. Perhaps the villains outnumber the nice guys in fiction because they drive a plot more easily than steady men. Or perhaps it is true, as the Bible warns us, that the sins of the fathers are visited on the children even unto the third and fourth generation.

You may have heard of Tona Barkley because she and her husband, John Harrod, are local musicians who perform throughout the region. Another reason you may know her is because she is on the ballot to serve as a director of Owen Electric Cooperative.

We have known Tona for over 30 years. She is an intelligent, hardworking and honest person. She retired from KET in Lexington and has the time, energy and interest to serve the members of our electric co-op and help Owen Electric as it moves into the future.

I am writing this letter in support of Ann Bond to the Owen Electric Board of Directors.

I have known Ann all of my life. She is a life-long resident of Owen County. Ann is just an all around good person and has served Owen County well over the years. She welcomes your questions and concerns regarding Owen Electric.

I am asking members in her district to come out and support her on June 25 at the annual meeting. It is held at Grant County High School in Dry Ridge. The voting is held from 4:30 to 7 p.m. and you are allowed one vote per household.

One of the lessons we all should have been learning through the last couple years is that large corporate enterprises can run extremely askew from the public interest. We have even seen them operate against their own best interests as their executives helped themselves to personal financial rewards while steering their companies into devastating circumstances.

I would like to take an opportunity to thank everyone who participated in Relay 2010 for all their hard work. Relay has grown to something that is bigger than a steering committee, bigger than team captains, bigger than participants – it has become a community in and of itself. As a community, we have raised over $71,000, in spite of other events and some weather challenges. What a huge accomplishment for a community our size.

My name is Ann Bond and I have served on the Owen Electric Cooperative Board of Directors for eight years. In that time, our cooperative has increased our renewable energy to 8 percent, more than any other utility in Kentucky. I have always been available for questions and concerns from our members. During my service, I have worked hard to keep the price of electricity to a minimum for you, our members, and I would like the opportunity to continue serving you.

In case you haven’t heard, Jim Joyce, the Major League umpire who called a runner safe when he was obviously out, cost Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga one of the rarest feats in all professional sports – a perfect game, 27 batters up and 27 batters down.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Joyce, who had a clear view of the play at first base, called the batter, Jason Donald of the Cleveland Indians, safe.

Two candidates running for the Owen Electric Cooperative’s board of directors envision a local utility open to its members’ ideas and active in providing affordable energy options that also create good, local jobs.

As far as we can tell, Nancy and I aren’t kin, not even a smidgen. However, my cousin’s grandmother (that would be Uncle Ed Hudson’s wife who was a Davis) is her great-aunt. Thus, in the exacting way of computers, her Google quest for roots led her to my Hudson Family tree posted on the Internet.

Much has happened over the last six years. My family has grown by two. Kentucky has seen three different basketball coaches, my VCR has been replaced by a DVR and my Internet is now wireless.

Something else has been happening for a little more than half of the last decade. My wife and I became fans of a little television show called Lost. You may have heard of it. If not, indulge me for a second and let me recap it for you.